The Fiction Shelf

An engaging insight into the reactions of each family member as they discover their house is burning and they must make their way to safety. What do they save and what do they leave behind?

A wonderfully‐paced, funny and insightful story about a mother getting to grips with her son’s impending marriage. Family Stone is warm and engaging and deals with familiar issues without ever seeming trite.

A strong narrative voice leads the reader deep into a tale of broken hearts, broken people, and broken relationships. Pooh Brooch is a short but affecting snip of a story, offering a brief and vivid window into two lives.

An American in Paris dives into the shabbily romantic world of art, bridges, love and politics. Engaging, expressive and entirely authentic, this story is a charming holiday to an iconic city in the recent past.

A rookie rock and roll journalist senses his big break when he gets granted a rare audience with a reclusive rock legend. A classy short story that is as much about getting old as it is about rock and roll.

Grandparents are living history and well worth exploring. History and humour stand side by side in this gently paced but wonderfully contained story of a cross‐generational road trip told through the pages of a child’s journal.

Beginning with a charming return to a childhood in an America where “Disney meant Disney” and kids feasted on Goobers, Chuckles and SkyBars while waiting for the next Big War, this dry‐witted and engaging story goes on to chart a man’s life and his constant struggle with Luck.

A Cold War drama that deals with trust and combative relationships. The narrator of Shipmate takes under his wing someone who has time after time proved them selves to be recklessly indisciplined and unreliable.

America is in depression and its small towns and working families are struggling. This story’s dialogue is local and its characters are troubled. A childhood lived in an adult world is the difficult backdrop for this engrossing period tale.

Sat still and looking out, this poem surveys the day and the writer’s company and sees it how it is. It’s charming and familiar, a constant pleasure to read.